[00:00:05] alright right, guys, welcome back to The Daily Mastermind. George Wright [00:00:10] III with a little bit more clarity, focus, and discipline for your week. [00:00:15] And I wanna talk to you about something pretty important. Let me ask you a question. How many summers [00:00:20] do you have left with your kids? You know, from the day a child's born, you get about 18, and most [00:00:25] founders have never counted.
But you can always start another business or you can make more money, [00:00:30] but you can't go back and redo a childhood. Now, let me tell you why I'm saying that. You may or [00:00:35] may not have kids, but there's an, an important idea and concept here that I wanna share with you today. [00:00:40] We as entrepreneurs and founders sometimes fall into traps.
We build a business to get [00:00:45] freedom, and then we end up cash rich and time poor. And the business gets our best hours, and [00:00:50] the family gets what's left over, or your relationships or insert whatever it is that's [00:00:55] important to you. Because usually they get what's left over, usually the [00:01:00] tired, stressed-out version of us And the reason for this is this.
We say, [00:01:05] "I'll slow down tomorrow," but tomorrow usually means months or years from now. [00:01:10] I've done this myself. Look, you can go through life and think that you're going [00:01:15] to do today what most won't so that tomorrow you can have what most have-- don't have, but [00:01:20] it, it's, it's just, it's a myth. And why do I bring this up now?[00:01:25]
Well, because the fourth quarter and the holidays are when most founders disappear into their work. [00:01:30] This is a good week right now for you to look hard at your calendar and start to think [00:01:35] about what you're gonna be doing in your fourth quarter. Are you going to miss those opportunities that you'll [00:01:40] never get back, or are you gonna build a business that provides freedom for your [00:01:45] lifestyle?
So I interviewed a gentleman by the name of George Rivera a while back. He's a serial [00:01:50] entrepreneur for 31 years. He's got a background in direct response marketing and [00:01:55] several multimillion-dollar businesses that he's built. But he's the CEO of 18 [00:02:00] Summers Advisory and the author of Buy Back Time Formula.
He had gone [00:02:05] from 80 hours a week to no more than 30, and right now he averages, like, 20. [00:02:10] And today, you know, he produces a podcast with his 11-year-old son, Leo, who [00:02:15] has done 67 interviews with founders and entrepreneurs. And so what I wanna do is I wanna [00:02:20] share with you a clip from an interview we did. And in this interview I did, uh, [00:02:25] with him, we talk about how in 2015 his father was dying of cancer [00:02:30] and said something to George that changed how he lived.
And even then, it took him another [00:02:35] three years to act on it. So what this clip talks about is it talks about that story and then [00:02:40] what 18 Summers means in practice, which is putting your family events on the [00:02:45] calendar like client calls and weekly family check-ins and, and the difference between [00:02:50] being in the room and being present.
And I think it's a really, really solid message to get your [00:02:55] week going, and so I wanna challenge you to listen for the one line that his dad told him [00:03:00] and then ask yourself whose games that you're missing and what you can do [00:03:05] differently in this fourth quarter. I hope you enjoy.
George Rivera: So in, uh, 2015, my [00:03:10] father, he was diagnosed with cancer early on in the year, given a few months to live, and he, he actually made it [00:03:15] about 10 months and, and a couple of weeks before he passed away, he said, don't miss Leo's games.
I [00:03:20] missed too many of yours. And the second he said that it was if I was a kid in, in a high [00:03:25] school gym again playing basketball. And he went to only say one of, of about 40 [00:03:30] games. And, um, I remember I'd score a basket and there's like no dad in the stands to, to cheer me on, but my [00:03:35] teammates would score a basket and their dads were there cheering 'em on like they won the championship.
And I was like, I [00:03:40] wish that was my dad looking at another dad. And, and I would've crushed my dad. 'cause, 'cause he was a good man. But that was, [00:03:45] that was nice closure to whatever that was as a, as a child. But then fast forward to current [00:03:50] day, at that time I was like, oh my gosh, I am my father all over again.
I'm [00:03:55] repeating the mistakes that my dad made. I'm already missing out on my son, taking his first steps, uh, attempting to [00:04:00] speak and a lot of the first firsts that a child go through. Um, so I remember when he made that statement, [00:04:05] I was like. After processing that I was like, this ends here, this generational thing [00:04:10] ends here, but it has to start tomorrow because I'm working 16 hours today.
[00:04:15] And of course, like, like most founders, when they say tomorrow, it doesn't really mean tomorrow. It means a long time from [00:04:20] now and sometimes never. And in my case, it, it took three years and, uh, I finally made something [00:04:25] happen in three years. But yeah, 2015 was that, that first moment when I realized I, I can't keep going this way, it just [00:04:30] took me a while to get to it.
George Wrigh III: So tell us a little bit about why you're so passionate about [00:04:35] the 18 summers and what you do with your founders that you work [00:04:40] with, um, that helps them to kind of claim. Their life and get, get out of their business is part of it, [00:04:45] right? But, but to really, truly create their best life.
George Rivera: Yeah, no, um, that's, that's a great question and great [00:04:50] transition. So, 18 summers, the, the name is because at day zero when our children are born, we [00:04:55] have 18 summers. Most founders, most listeners are gonna be counting the number in their head of, well, I got [00:05:00] six, I got five, or, I'm out of summers. And so it's just to shine a light on the fact that [00:05:05] we don't have an infinite amount of time with our children.
We can never redo a childhood. We can [00:05:10] always start a new business, make more money. But those moments, once they pass, they're gone forever. And you know, [00:05:15] all of us at the end of our days might have regrets here and there, but the goal is to minimize the regrets. And then when you [00:05:20] became aware that there was another way.
You can be proud that you took action and you made, made something happen. [00:05:25] And so, yeah, at the end of the day, my heart breaks for the little boy or the little girl that's like, you know, where the heck [00:05:30] is my dad? And, and why is work more important than me? And maybe they're not wording it like that, but that's the [00:05:35] sentiment.
And, and I can only say that because I was the, the little boy that went through that. And so it's almost like I'm [00:05:40] doing it for the little boy. Like I, I'm trying to get your dad's attention so we can bring him back home so he can have the [00:05:45] influence that that. To be the dad that he was born to be. And so, so that, that's really the motivation [00:05:50] behind it.
And uh, and there's also frameworks to reconnecting with your family, just like there's frameworks in [00:05:55] business to free you up so that the business can grow and scale without you. That's when you've had true freedom in your [00:06:00] business. Then it's not like, Hey, good luck. Go, go have fun. It's like, no, let's reconnect with the [00:06:05] family because we broke the bond through years of broken promises, intentional [00:06:10] or not.
But the net effect is the same. There, it takes a process to restore the bond as well, [00:06:15] and so I help, uh, fellow founder men walk through that.
George Wrigh III: I, I, uh, we had a conversation a little bit before this [00:06:20] where you talked about, um, engaging with your son in a, in a podcast, and, and I don't know if that's a good [00:06:25] segue into you giving us a little bit of, uh, shine, a little bit of light into what. Type of frameworks you [00:06:30] feel are the most, um, results generating for founders that are [00:06:35] trying to reconnect and create, uh, an epic lifestyle or [00:06:40] life.
Um, and if that, you know, also involves maybe talking to us a little bit how you did that with your son, that'd be great too. But I'd love to [00:06:45] hear some of what you do when you guide people through this, because I think people are thinking, yeah, I agree [00:06:50] exactly with what you're saying. What do I do?
George Rivera: Yeah, exactly. Well, first step is structuring your calendar to [00:06:55] not work more than 30 hours a week so that there's plenty of time to give back to the family. So once you do [00:07:00] that, then uh, you, you have to begin to restore the bond with the family. And I call it a season [00:07:05] pass, but this season pass never expires.
And it's, it's, you know, it's attending [00:07:10] those games, prioritizing, you know, just like you prioritize a zoom. Most people, [00:07:15] most founders will not miss a Zoom call for anything unless they get hit by a bus. So please don't cross any [00:07:20] roads where crossing. But for for family stuff, we'll blow it like it was never on the calendar.
[00:07:25] When there's a business emergency, it's like that thing might as well not even been there. And so there's a [00:07:30] mindset shift that needs to occur that, hey, this is on the calendar. I've committed to it. I'm gonna be there because my [00:07:35] family expects me to be there. And that's how you begin to restore the bond.
And then communication. Just like we [00:07:40] have a, a weekly cadence on the business end, you want to have some sort of weekly family meeting. Uh, it [00:07:45] could be just a few minutes, but check in with your family. How am I doing? Because I tell you on the first [00:07:50] day that you're gonna go home to your family and say, Hey, family, I'm, I'm gonna be doing better.
Ah, we've heard that [00:07:55] before. Or how long it fine. And, and, and, you know, don't, don't blame 'em. That might hurt, but hey, just, just [00:08:00] show them that you mean business. And by, by doing a, a, a say a weekly family meeting where it could [00:08:05] be at a cadence where, where your family, you know, agrees on that's comfortable.
Um, Hey, how am I doing? You know, where [00:08:10] did I fall short? Where can I improve? And, and that's the first step of getting, getting the bond restored with your family.
George Wrigh III: So when [00:08:15] you say, 'cause I really like how you put that, restore the bond and then communication. When [00:08:20] you say that, is that a objective you're trying to do or do you mean that very [00:08:25] tangibly in the sense that there are ways to restore the bond? Because I, I look at it [00:08:30] like you started a podcast with your son.
Um, is that one of the ways that you wanted to create the [00:08:35] bond? Is that why you did that? And are there. Strategies for creating. 'cause even whether your kids are young or [00:08:40] they're older, there's a lot of ways to restore a bond. Like I, you know, it could be like, one of my, one of my [00:08:45] sons is like epically in the gym, right?
Like we, we, we share that commonality. So doing workouts [00:08:50] together might be one. Tell me what you mean when you say restore the bond, because it does sound like a great objective, [00:08:55] but is there strategy behind that?
George Rivera: Yeah, and it, it's basically just being present for them and being [00:09:00] into what they're interested in. Um, but, but just the presence, like for example, proximity doesn't [00:09:05] equal presence. So like, hey, I could, I could be at the dinner table, but my, my mind could be, you know, solving [00:09:10] business problems. You know, um, so, you know, great role is pretty common.
Like no phones at the dinner table, that's, uh, [00:09:15] kind of become a popular thing. Um, but just things like that where, you know, you're able to [00:09:20] not have your mind constantly turned on putting out fires and it, it, it, it can take the founder a little bit of [00:09:25] time to get into that because we've been in firefighter mode for years.
It's not gonna like flip off overnight, but you [00:09:30] gotta start, you know, progressively heading in that direction where you can. You know, reduce the [00:09:35] noise in, in your head from all the business activity, from years of just being so tied to, to the [00:09:40] devices to to be on call for everything. And so once you start implementing this and you start [00:09:45] realizing, okay, I can safely step away from the business.
Especially like if you're in the middle of a, of a work [00:09:50] week and you're like, clocking out for the day, or, or, you know, I'm, I'm done. This is the time in my calendar that says I'm [00:09:55] done. Like, you can, like turn your brain off. Your business is not gonna collapse. You've got systems in [00:10:00] place so that, that gives you the freedom to give that presence to your family.
[00:10:05] Again, not just proximity, but presence. Being able to look 'em in the eye, converse with them, be interested in what they, what [00:10:10] they like. Um, and, and again, it's just all about restoring the bond with the family. And every family's gonna have [00:10:15] their different, you know, interest in in hobbies and, and family, uh, outings and events [00:10:20] and activities.
But, um, generally speaking, we need to reduce the noise from, from our work, starting with the [00:10:25] structuring our calendar and, and doing some of the business frameworks we just discussed earlier, so that you can be home [00:10:30] knowing that all that's working for you and you can just fully engage at home.
I've never heard anybody at the end of [00:10:35] their life say, I'm so glad I blew your game for that client meeting or for that business [00:10:40] excuse. But we do that every day on autopilot. So now that, you know, there's no more [00:10:45] excuse to keep going down that path.
And so by the end of your days, you could say, when I learned that there was another way I took [00:10:50] action and I'm, I'm proud of how I lived from, from there on out.
George Wrigh III: I agree. I love it. I love it. Well, listen guys, I [00:10:55] appreciate you joining us today on the podcast. Do me a favor and share this episode. Share [00:11:00] it because you never know. Who is out there that needs to remind themselves [00:11:05] that it's never too late to start living the life that you were meant to live. But you've got to [00:11:10] do something about it.
And the first step is awareness. So thanks for joining us today. Share the [00:11:15] episode. Uh, check out the show notes and let me know what you're up to. I wanna celebrate your wins. Uh, find out what I could do to help you go to the [00:11:20] next level. Once again, this is George Wright third. This has been The Daily Mastermind.
Talk to you soon.
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